Dark satin dreams, and velvet nightmares
by millenium-writer
Summary: When is a dream a dream? What makes a nightmare so frightening? Is there a definable line that separates the two? I can't tell, if there is, maybe you can. Do you think you could? Fine, then listen to my story, and give me your answer.
1. Chapter 1

Darkness, all around me. I can't see anything, no shapes, no textures. Except for- 

Why do I suddenly have this craving for chocolate pudding? Oh well, not important.

Huh, it's damn dull in here, or out here, or where ever.

How about some light music?

Ugh, not the tetris theme song.

... Dum dum da dum, da-dum, da-dum da da da dum...

Ok, moving on.

Muzak? No thanks.

Goth rock? Please, I like my blood in my body, not dripping out of my ears.

Ha-hum, without the guitars, those flutes just get annoying. Yep, the Naruto snow country movie music.

Is it just me, or is it getting lighter?

Or am I just seeing things? Well, I wasn't before, so... Couldn't hurt to check, right?

OW! Ok, pinching yourself really works, but it hurts. A LOT.

Hmmm, ok, grayish sort of light, but I still don't see anything. Check that, there doesn't seem to BE anything. Whoops! Missing an arm, nope, both of 'em. Ack, no legs either. Oh, darn, I ain't got NOOOOO BODY.

Hmm, what a messed up dream, am I just a floating head or something? Ew, maybe just floating eyeballs, since I can't hear my own voice. 

Gross.

CHOOSE

Gaaaah! What the hell was that!

CHOOSE NOW

Oh yaay-hay-hay-haaaay, a morphine dream, it's gotta be.

Whoops, no time for drugs, I've got a body again. Or, did I have one before? Hmmm, weird dream this is.

No Yoda jokes.

Oooofff... Ow, ok, definitely got a body for sure, my butt hurts.

CHOOSE

Yeah, ok, how?

CHOOSE

Wh- Ooooohhh... Choose how I choose? Geez, convoluted or what? Ok, number one way to pick, NICK-KNACKS!

Wow, ok, that worked well, even a spotlight and a few tables. It's like browsing at a bazaar.

Hmm hmm hmmm... Wish I had my wallet with me, oh well. I'llllll piiiiick.

This one!

Whoops! There go all the lights, hm, guess I can't take it back now. So let's see what's on the table.

Some plushies, glasses, contact lenses, bandanas, ooh, sharp and pointys, naaah.

CHOO-

I got it, I got it, yeash. Talk about impatient, damn formless, shapeless, deus ex machina voices.


	2. Chapter 2

Hmm, choose eh? Weeee-eeelllll, I kinda like the idea of being able to see properly, whatever's going to happen, so I think I'll piiiick-

The contact lenses.

Wow. That was... The same thing that happened before, now another table's lit up. Ok, dum de dah, walk over there, more stuff.

Hrrrm, I kind of like that mask laying there. Meow, eh? Naaaah, not as much as I thought I did. Hmm, there's another, not a cat this time, naaah, maybe something else?

Oh hey lookie! A medal. Ooooh, I recognise this, it's-

Blah, there go the lights, ok, shuffle on over to the other table, stuff the medal into my pocket for now. Oh, might as well put the contacts in, strange how my vision's fine right now. Ok, one aaaand, two, hah, easy.

Ok, this table's got... Huh, a leaf wha-

IT IS DECIDED

Huh? Hey! Wait! I didn't pick yet!

"Oh, this sucks."

"Then maybe you'd rather sit in the hall?"

"Ack, no Iruka-sensei!" Gah, did I just say... Uh-oh, look around, look around. Blargh, a classroom, I'm in hell.

Wait, Iruka-sensei? I'm not japanese. And...

"AAAUUUUGGGHHH!"

"That's it, you're staying after class."

"AAAAAAUUUGGGHHHH!"

---X.X---

Well great, not only am I in a very funky dream, I'm stuck in detention too. Why was I screaming like that? I HAD facial hair before, now I don't. I also had pu-

"Ok, that's enough, you can go now." Iruka-sensei took the bucket off of my head for me, nice thing too, since my hands were full with the other two.

Weirdest detention I've ever been in, holding buckets full of water. I stuff my hands into my pockets, and try to look brow-beaten as I shuffle out. Pity is a great tactic.

I meander about town as I head back to 'my' house. Yeah, I said my house, I live here, sort of. I have a small house a fairly short ways away from school and I live there alone.

Did I mention that I'm fourteen now? Yeah, I wasn't before. Is it possible to get sexually frustrated before you're sexually active? Well, ok, not sexually frustrated, I'm not really interested in that too much. Just frustrated.

"GODDAMMIT!" Yeah, more than a little frustrated.

Huh? Giggling? Somebody's giggl- Ohhh, that's it, now I'm pissed, I'm gonna-

"Ebisu-kun!" Oh, it's a bunch of girls, never mind, hold the ass kicking. Dammit.

"Hmff." I turn and continue walking off, followed by more giggling, and a few sighs.

Yeah, that's my name now, Ebisu Marise, 'the god of infinite work and luck'. Super.

Ok, so I suppose you're wondering how I know all this? Well, the new body comes with a nearly full set of memories. 

Nearly.

I guess I'm supposed to be some sort of orphan, since I can't remember my 'parents'. No big deal, this is weird enough already. Well, here's my house. It's not a bad little house, it just feels a bit... Empty

I grab a cup of instant ramen and crack open my books. Homework, it's not that hard really, mostly theory, and I'm pretty good at that. I slurp up my noodles, doodle a bit in the margins, around the top, and go to bed.

It takes me a long time to fall asleep. I'm used to that.

--- -.-ZZZZZ ---


	3. Chapter 3

Everyday is the same.

Wake up, get up.

Eat up, Brush up.

Wash up, dress up.

Day in, day out, for weeks on end. "Screw it." Sighing, I shoulder my satchel and wander off close to the edge of the village, I've got stuff to do. Important stuff.

"Ebisu-kun!" A few girls come running up to me, and I paste on my best 'piss off' look. It fits nicely over my 'I hate everything' look.

"Ebisu-kun, what're you doing today?"

"Walking home alone Ebisu-kun? You don't have to you know."

"Ebis-"

"I'm BUSY today." Turning, I stalk down an ally, I like stalking, it's kind of a tough guy walk, but what really sets the tone is your facial expression and aura. Too much of a smile, and it becomes playful. Too much of a scowl, and it becomes threatening. You have to get the right balance of murderous rage, and an expression that screams 'I'm a tortured soul! leave me alone!' and I think I pull that off nicely, since they're not calling me anymore.

Today I continue my preparation for the day I leave this village.

"There." Plunked down in a tree, I'm mostly hidden from view. If my quarry sees me, it'll just look like I'm sketching birds or something.

But I'm not. I'm spying on Maito Gai today.

The sketchbook is actually for taking down notes and copying his forms as best I can. I'm much better at art than I was where I come from, back then, I could barely do stickmen. Now, I'm making various images and notes on how Gai tones his body. I spent weeks following Iruka-sensei around doing this, working on my speed drawing.

I also picked up a lot on how to keep my body flexible, he's really very limber.

A few days of this, and then I move on to another Jounin. Maybe Hatake Kakashi. Maybe.

Drat, Gai's moving off for one of his marathon 'warm up' runs again. I guess that's it for today.

Shouldering my bag, I drop down from the tree and- "Fu-" Fall over ontop of someone. How embarrassing.

"Ow!" A girl, from the voice. "Wh-" A very red girl, all of a sudden. "Ebisu-kun."

"Hyuuga Hinata." I'm in an awkward position, straddling her lap. I somehow managed to break my fall without crushing her, but my hands are tangled in her sweatshirt's hood. "It looks like I ruined your lunch." Nice, I splattered her riceball and drink all over the grass, lucky it wasn't on her.

She just keeps getting redder. I stand up, untangling myself from her shirt, and dig in my pocket. "Here." Dropping a handful of yen into her lap, I spin around on my heel. "That should make up for my lack of co-ordination." With that, I walk off. I hope nobody saw that.

"...Sigh." Not my lucky day. Turning to my left, I shoot a mild glare. "I don't do autographs." Three of them, at least one, fairly pissed off, but who- "Ah, Gai's cell." Rock lee, Tenten, and- "Hyuuga Neji, what did I do to deserve the sparkling smile?" Oh yeah, if he wasn't out for blood before, he is now. I turn and- 

Killing intent.

I try to spin back around, but something catches me in the back, sends me flying a good dozen feet, and I hit the ground hard.

"Neji, you didn't have to hit him that hard." Oh really Tenten, how hard should he have hit me then?

"Thanks for the sympathy, but..." I haul myself up onto my feet, without a groan, thank god. "That fixed the crick in my back, thanks Neji-chan." I smirk, and try to straighten up. Not working very well, the old back.

"Let me help." Someone holds out a hand to help me. Who-

"Lee-san." I gratefully take his hand and straighten up. It still hurts like hell. "Thanks, looks like Neji-chan missed the other tickle in my spine." Well Lee looks conflicted about this, so I'll step away from him, so it doesn't seem like he's siding against his team-mate. "If the demonstration of the Hyuuga clan style backrubs is over, I'm late for lunch."

I turn and walk stiffly away, my back feels like it's on fire. Looks like I'll be having lunch after a long soak. Damn, seems Gai's cell has figured out that I've been watching him.

"Ebisu-san, wait a moment."

Sighing, I turn around to see who it is this time. "What now?" It's Lee again.

"Why are you spying on master Gai?" Hmm, straight to the point, I'll be direct too then.

"So he can't say no to me." Now he looks confused. I sigh again. "I'll explain. I'm the only one without a cell, since I'm the odd man out thanks to simple numbers. Since a four man cell isn't allowed, I can't ask your master to train me."

"But if you asked, I'm sure master Gai would-"

"Ask the Hokage? It's against the rules, so it won't happen, even if he did ask. If I do it this way, he won't have to put himself out like that, and I won't be bothering him. Besides..." I flash him a grin. "I am a Ninja."

"Anyways, I hear the hot water calling me." I turn and walk away, waving over my shoulder. "Tell Neji-chan that he's on my hit list now. He'd better watch his back from now on. Ja ne." Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I head for home, and a nice hot bath.

I need it.


	4. Chapter 4

The problem with being a loner, is that you get exactly what you want.

And that doesn't always end up being a good thing.

I'm smart enough to know that no man is an island.

I'm also dumb enough to think that I'm the exception to that rule.

If I didn't love irony so much, I'd have killed myself a long time ago.

Sighing, I stand back up and walk over to the posts, they were simple training tools really, just a few logs jammed into the ground. The idea for using them is simple too, punch them until your feet bruise and your knuckles bleed.

Surprisingly effective for stress.

Flexing my hands, I ignore the posts for the moment, I'm more concerned with my wraps. After the first few tries, I learned quickly that it's important to at least pad your knuckles with a single layer of cloth. Otherwise, you won't be able to move your fingers at all the next day.

Another valuable lesson, learned the hard way.

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

Yeah, it hurts.

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

A lot.

Thunkthunkthunk.

More than it should.

Thunkthunkthunkthunkthunk.

Oh, I see why now.

Thunk thunk thunk.

Some idiot splintered the wood by hitting the posts too hard.

Thunk thunk thunk.

The wood is tearing up my hand wraps, that's why it hurts so much.

Thunk thunk thunk.

Maybe...

Thunk thunk thunk.

I should have waited awhile to calm down before I started today.

Thunk thunk thunk.

Damn that Neji.

Thunkthunkthunkthunkthunk.

One more hurdle to transcend before I can leave Konoha.

Thunk thunk thunk.

But.

"Hyyyaaahh!"

Slamming my fist into the post, I bury it in a good two inches.

"Before I do that, I need to grow stronger."

Sighing, I turn my head up to look at the sky. It's a nice day. Pity, I don't have time to enjoy it. Watching Gai seems to have paid off, my muscle tone has improved quite a bit. And-

Tensing the muscles in my arm, all at once, I sink my fist in another inch, making the wood crackle loudly.

"Hmmm."

I allow a small smile to touch my lips. This was what I was hoping for, something original. I'm not sure what to call it quite yet, but it's looking good.

"A loser like you would be impressed with how little you can do."

I know that voice, naturally.

"Hyuuga Neji, don't you have anything better to do..." Turning, I smirk at him, pausing to savor his expression before it changes. "Than to try and steal moves from this 'loser'?"

Oh yeah, the look on his face right now, it's enough to make me feel like dancing... Almost.

"Since you're so intent on standing there, quivering with rage, I'll do the talking." Turning back to face the post, I keep my focus on him. The last time I turned my back on Neji, he nearly broke me in two. "The reason why you're here is because I threaten your security. You simply cannot rest while I can so easily walk away from your best efforts to break me."

I can literally smell his rage. Might as well push him a bit more.

"And, the reason why you're not attacking me right now, is because you're not sure what I can do." I wrench my hand free with a loud crackle. "To be honest, I'm not sure myself." Turning to look over my shoulder at him, I bend my arm at the elbow, slowly curling each finger of my right hand into a fist, my tendons make a menacing snapping sound as they tense. "Want to find out?"

He stares at me for a bit longer than I like, before turning on his heel and walking away.

I make sure he's good and gone before I heave a sigh and let my arm fall limp at my side. "Finally, I don't think I could've taken him at the moment... I'm worn right out."

"Maybe you should be more careful who you provoke." Someone off to my left, and not a familiar voice at all. "Aburame Shino." He lifted a small case made of transparent plastic. "I'm out collecting bugs."

"Ah." Nice, sounds exactly how he says it, but- "So why is your case empty?"

"Hm, too much noise." Nice glasses, and the high collar hides his expression well.

"I see, would it help if I moved then?"

"No, here is fine."

Looks like we can both dance around a topic well enough. "I'll go first then." I turn back to the post, and begin punching it, softly this time. "You're here because of something having to do with me." I pause for a moment. "Too obvious, I know." Stepping back, I begin driving my heel into the weathered wood, working on my kicks for now. "But it's not a direct concern of yours... A friend, maybe?"

"Hyuuga Hinata." He walks over to one of the nearby trees, leaning close to examine the bark. I guess he really is hunting bugs.

"I suppose she's worried about her cousin."

"No, she's worried about you."

That gave me a good reason to stop. "But Naru-"

"Exactly, don't mistake her kindness." A bit of a rebuke in his tone this time.

"Ah, begging your pardon then." I resumed kicking the post, switching to my other leg. "So, she's just being a nice girl then."

"Exactly." Turning, Shino began walking into the woods.

"Huh." Staring at the post for a moment, I began punching it again.

After all, I still had training to do.


	5. Chapter 5

Thunk!

Jerking my head away, I stare with wide eyes at the kunai buried to the hilt in the training post. "Wh-what the hell?"

"You're taking up space, and wasting people's valuable time." A voice from behind me, someone older, taller, and, feminine...

Sort of.

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you." What an irritating person. Ignoring the kunai, I begin punching at the post again. I don't have time to fool around with busybodies.

"Hm, maybe you should turn around and look at who you're dealing with before you shoot your mouth off... Little boy." Interesting, she doesn't seem that angered by my comment.

"Why bother? Like you said, my time is valuable." I continue to ignore her, hopefully, it'll provo-

I jerk my body to the side, there's no time for me to change my stance, so I lean way over, and twist at the waist and knees. Several sharp and pointy objects sink into the wooden post. I hope I leaned far enough.

"You managed to avoid them all, I see." Amused now eh?

(YOU BITCH! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME! ; )

Lifting up from my extreme limbo pose, I run my hand down my front. It looks like I'm dusting myself off, too cool to be anything less than perfect looking, right? But really, it's to see how close those things came to slicing me to ribbons. My shirt feels a hair thinner over my stomach, damn, she nearly made a mark there.

"Only out of respect, older women have the right of way." I'll bet that makes her blood boil too. Probably a Chunin, I don't think any Genin have that sort of skill.

"..." Boy, if a twitching eye could make a sound, it's gotta be that.

Turning around, I shift my stance to lean back on the post. "Well, I'll give you th- Gaaah." She- "Omph."

"Hm?" She looks a bit surprised. I wonder why.

Probably because I missed the post when I got a good look at her. My, the sky looks so blue today, I don't spend enough time flat on my back enjoying it.

Footsteps, and a face fills most of my view. "..." Where to start? Well, she has deep purple hair, done back in a spiky ponytail. A Konoha forehead protector is holding back her bangs somewhat, and she's wearing some sort of pendant, I can't get a good look at it while it's dangling down by my nose like that. She's wearing the regular ninja footwear, but the heel's aren't cut out like some folks wear it. Shin guards, colored a flat grey, an interesting fashion statement these days. A tan trenchcoat with a maroon lining. Tangerine is an odd choice for a miniskirt, but who am I to judge? I'm too busy staring at the rest of her outfit.

Or lack-there-of.

Seriously, she's wearing the same thermal netting that every other ninja wears. That's it. And it's completely see-through, did I mention that? Really, she's leaning right over me, see through body stocking and all, with an open trench coat, no less. Not every ninja comes equipped with shame, I guess.

Uh-oh, she's getting one of those 'I know what you're staring at' looks on her face. Think of something quick.

"If you don't get away from me, I'll scream rape." I mirror her expression, and speak in the blandest, flattest tone I have.

"Eh?" Oh yeah, that worked, now she's totally off guard. Time to make my move.

Reaching up, I grab her jacket collar, can't use her shirt, because she ISN'T WEARING ONE! And pull her an inch or so closer. "Fine..." I let out a despondent sigh. "At least make it semi-gentle... I am a virgin." Always use everything you have to fight with, even if it isn't a weapon. "And underage." And never be above dirty tricks when your butt is on the line.

She makes a few half attempts at forming words, and seems to be trembling a little. Heh, I bet it's not everyday that she's called a pervert. Hm, do people even call girls perverts?

Uh-oh.

-

It was sometime after noon when I woke back up. Not only did I have one mother of a bruise on my face, but it looks like she kicked dirt all over me too.

-

I do my best to ignore the stares as I slurp up my ramen. It's not surprising really, since it's not often you see a guy with a single, continuous cut in the shape of a heart on his right cheek. "I think she likes me."

"You think so?" Master Iruka glances over at me, away from his ramen, and, harder to ignore, a blond kid in bright orange engulfing noodles at a rate that would rival master Gai's maximum downhill velocity.

If he was addicted to steroids laced with caffeine and speed.

"Mmmmm... Why else would she go to all the trouble of putting this piece of art on my face?" I click my chopsticks together, I'm more focused on my current train of thought than food.

"I wouldn't call that art..." Master Iruka sweatdrops, smiling weakly. He just doesn't get it.

"Let me explain then." Carefully picking up a noodle, I begin winding it around one chopstick. "First off, she attacks me, she's obviously good enough to hit me, but doesn't. A warning." I close my eyes, trying to place her face to a name. "Second, she walks over to see if I'm ok when I fall over... On purpose, mind you."

Iruka nodded twice quickly. "Of course, of course." Yeah, real convincing sensei.

"Third, when I make, um... An observation as to her intent, she..."

"Clobbers you?" Damn blond... Spiky haired... Dumb face. Ok, not my best insults, but he shouldn't be butting in!

I sweatdrop. "Lulls me to sleep... She takes the time to mark this into my cheek, and leaves nothing behind, not a single trace." I slurp up the noodle I was toying with. "Every single throwing star and kunai, gone. And." I lightly touch a finger to my cheek, jerking my hand away at the sharp sting. "There wasn't a trace of blood on my face when I woke up."

"Oh?" Now master Iruka looks interested.

"Bugs? It could be bugs. They eat blood, right? Or birds?" Ugh, that orange kid is as dumb as he looks.

"Bugs don't leave saliva after they're done." That's the thing that bothers me, no blood, and... I continue to touch my cheek experimentally.

"Could be..." Iruka-sensei looks a bit distant. He must know somebody who fits the bill.

"You know a Chunin who doesn't wear a shirt, at all?" He must know her, it's master Iruka, after all. Teachers know stuff, right?

"Chunin? No." Great, torpedo my ship of hope, why don't you?

Sighing, I pick up my bowl and begin slurping up the broth. It's nice and salty, at least I have that to console me.

"Jounin, yes." Master Iruka looks a bit surprised and disgusted.

Maybe it's because I dropped my bowl and sprayed broth all over his face. I could see how that could affect a person.

Wiping off his face, master Iruka gives me a sour look.

"Ah heh... Sorry?" I smile sheepishly, but my mind was whirling already. A Jounin? Is a word, crap. In two words, holy crap. "Whats her name?"

"You're better off staying away from her Ebisu." Orange boy looks over at me at the mention of my name. Meh, he probably thinks I'm related to Konohamaru's teacher.

As if.

"I'll take it under advisement. Name, please?" Now I really want to know. If master Iruka says she's bad for me, this oughta be good.

With a sigh, Iruka picks up his chopsticks. "Mitarashi Anko."

I stare at master Iruka for a moment. "Iruka-sensei..." He looks at me. "Didn't anyone ever teach her to dress decently?"

Iruka sweatdropped, his face splatting into his ramen.


	6. Chapter 6

"Your mission..." Finally, it's my turn. I thought I'd be sitting here forever, waiting for that loudmouthed orange kid to take his group and leave. I pity the old guy they have to escort, blondie seems set on killing him before they leave the village.

"D rank, a girl lost her doll while playing in the woods at the edge of town." The third Hokage set down the D rank scroll, giving me a level look. "It's a stuffed fox, missing one ear."

Sighing, I nod and stand up, brushing off my pants as I do. It doesn't seem like I'm going to be a world famous ninja anytime soon. "Ja ne, Hokage-sama." Turning, I walk outside and stuff my hands into my pockets, heading for the edge of town. I'll check outside the gates first, it's the most likely place a kid would go to play outside of town.

It doesn't take me long to get there, and I begin looking around for small footprints in the grass. There's quite a few, must have been a bunch of kids playing here. I'll look for the lightest prints then.

Hmm, these wander all over the place- Ah. There we go, tracks leading towards the bushes. Hmm, there's a bit of rustling back there.

Too much for the kinds of animals that forage around here. Oh, duh, it must be some kids looking for the doll. "Ok kiddies, this is a job for a ninja, so why don't you go-"

Two figures in blue stand up, how they hid in the brush wearing all that blue, I have no idea, but they look like bad news. And, they're wearing-

"Oh crap." Lunging back, I narrowly avoid the set of steel claws that swipe through the air where my face was. Tucking into a roll, I spring back up onto my feet.

"It's your bad luck that we found you instead of the old man." I can't tell which one of them is speaking, not with those weird masks on. "We were expecting four with him, you won't even be worth our time to play with."

Four? Not blondie and his cell?

I didn't get a chance to clarify, they were already coming at me again. Too spread out for a direct attack, they're probably trying to put me in a pincer- "Oh shit!" Jumping back, it's too little, too late. I only just noticed the chain they have stretched between them, I'm not going to be able to avoid it.

"Kawarimi no jutsu!" Slapping my hands together to form a seal, I freeze completely. It's hard as hell, with that spiked chain bearing down on me, but I manage it anyways. If this doesn't work-

"Ch! Where did he go?" Tearing up the turf as they grind to a halt, both ninja are looking around wildly for me.

Kawarimi, the body substitution technique, allows a ninja to replace his body with an object, usually a log, and hide himself somewhere nearby. Nobody ever expects you to be faking it.

That was too close, and worse, I don't have any time to think up a plan. These two are just too fast for me to handle, and I can't split them up-

Hold on. Why split them up at all? Smirking, I lunge at the one on my right. Winding up, I smash my fist into his face, driving him back.

"Wh-" I was too close for him to react, and now he's stumbling back. Dammit, I'm weaker than I thought. The other one reacts to the jerking of the chain by charging at me.

Perfect.

"Hyaaaa!" Spinning around, I crouch low and thrust my arm out, setting my toes into the ground as hard as I can. I'm not trying to hurt him, though by the look on his face as my arm jolts from the impact, I did anyways.

"You're going to pay for that, you stupid kid." Winding up, he doesn't seem to realize that I'm holding my fist against his chest for a reason.

Idiot. "Nidan-ken!" Tensing the muscles in my arm, all at once, I hit him again, but this time, it's got twice the force since there isn't any gap between his chest and my fist. Without air to slow my punch, or room for him to go anywhere, it's got to hurt like hell.

That's right, I knocked the other one away for a reason. Right now, that length of chain between them is taut, holding the one I'm hitting in place. He might as well be leaning against a brick wall.

The look in his eyes tells me that it may be a more effective trick than I had first thought. The chain is starting to slack, so I whirl around, and lunge straight at the other ninja. He's got to be good and mad right now, so that may give me an opening.

Too fast, I can feel lines of fire drawing over my ribs. I was barely able to avoid being skewered on his claw, he closed the distance between us so much faster than I thought he would.

No matter.

Twisting my body, I stomp down on his knee as hard as I can, I'll need a good plant to pull this one off. Whipping my arm around, I slam it into the crook of his elbow as hard as I can. I can feel him relaxing his arm to absorb the force of my blow, but I can compensate by extending my leg. Right now I have more room to move than he does.

There! He hit his limit of movement, the chain is hampering him. I can see the other ninja crumpling to the ground, so it's time. "Nidan-" I tense my muscles again, it's starting to hurt, maybe I should have practiced this a bit more, I can feel my tendons strain. "Ken!" Damn, it's like a half dozen rivers of fire flowing up my arm. I'm shredding my muscles with this move, my body isn't durable enough to withstand the force I'm putting on it.

"Huugghh-Gyaaahh!" I'll bet that smarts, I can feel his muscles and elbow joint give away beneath my fist. I don't have time to pity him, the second ninja is back up on his feet and rushing in.

Using my position to my advantage, I drop down to the ground, squatting low and at an angle, since my foot is still ontop of this ninja's knee.

The other adjusts his angle of attack, moving to come in lower.

Good.

Pushing for all I'm worth, I use the knee I was standing on as a springboard to send me flying over my attacker's head. He narrowly misses taking off my foot at the ankle. Rolling to break my fall and pop me back up on my feet, I begin running backwards. These guys are much too fast for me to turn my back on safely.

The one with the undamaged arms comes rushing at me again, faster this time.

Perfect.

Dropping onto my back as he swipes at my face, I hear a muted scream of agony. Ignoring it for a moment, I drive my heels into this ninja's gut, arching my back to send him flying over me.

Another scream, much worse this time, as I roll backwards onto my feet. Woah... The world is starting to get a bit blurry. Feels like I'm spinning around a bit too. I don't think I've lost that much blood. Maybe I did, I can't tell.

The screaming goes on, and I know exactly what caused it. Me. When I smashed up the second one's arm, the first didn't notice, he just kept coming at me. And with that length of chain attached, he's been tearing the hell out of his buddy's arm.

I hear some sort of mechanical clanking, they must have just detached the chain. "Ungh..." Dammit, it's starting to get hard to move, and I don't carry any throwing weapons with me. Stupid stupid stupid! Slowly turning around, I can see the one with the busted arm getting up. "Shit..." Think! I need something, anything! Quick!

Taking a half step, I feel the ground move under my foot. No, the feel is off, but what- It's gotta be the chain.

"You're going to die slowly for this." Oh good, he's pissed, can't say that I blame him. I need som- That's it!

"I don't think so." Crouching, I snatch up the loose end of the chain and give it a quick twirl. I sound like hell, puked back up, and reheated, _twice_. I need to finish this one, _now_. Flinging the weighted end, I manage a weak strike on his arm. The gibbering cry of pain he lets out tells me which one I hit. Yanking the weighted end back, I put everything I've got into my second strike.

I'm lucky, that one caught him in the throat, and he drops like a rock. I've got to start carrying ranged weapons. It was stupid of me not to, and it nearly got me killed. No time to worry right now, I spin around and start to run at the other ninja.

My head starts to throb and I stagger, I've got to finish off the one I threw, before he recovers. An explosion of pain along the side of my head tells me I'm too late. Landing on my side, I try to struggle upright. I'm lucky he just tried to backhand my head off, instead of clawing into me again.

"I'm going to enjoy this." He's standing over me now, I think. I can't really tell, everything is too blurred for me to see anything but a haze of color melting together.

My ears work well enough for me to hear several fleshy impacts.

And a scream.

I can't tell if it's mine or not, since the world went very dark at that point.

I guess it doesn't matter.

I just wanna sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Vvmmm... Vvmmm... Vvmmm...

That noise...

Vvmmm... Vvmmm... Vvmmm...

What's that noise?

Vvmmm... Vvmmm... Vvmmm...

It's coming from close by, but-

Vvmmm... Vvmmm... Vvmmm... Bip.

That's... My cellphone.

Bip, Bip, Bip, Bip.

A message, someones trying to talk to me. But who?

**YOU'RE NOT DEAD, SO WAKE UP!**

-

"Ngghh... Huh?" Opening my eyes, I quickly close them again. The light is much too bright in here. Where ever here is. "Hokage-sama?"

"Mmm?" The Hokage was smoking his pipe, I could make out that much through slitted eyelids. I think he's standing near a window, but there's too much glare to tell.

"I was having a dream." Was it a dream? What part was reality? Ugh, my head hurts about as much as the rest of my body, trying to figure this out is giving me brain-ache.

"It must have been quite a nightmare." He turns towards me. It's getting easier to see now. He's still wearing that damn, half a turtle-shell hat.

"Huh?" I try sitting up, and manage to struggle half-way there before a muffled sort of peep distracts me. I give up my quest for an upright position, and settle back against my pillow. The hospital's pillow. What ever.

"You've been unconscious for three days now." He's got to be joking. He doesn't look like he's joking. Somebody, tell me he's joking.

"You're not joking." Crap, not with a look like that on his face.

Shaking his head, he steps closer to my bedside. "The poison spread through your body completely." The Hokage smiled a little, a hint of his less than serious side. "It's not good to take your name so literally, Ebisu."

"But..." Shaking my head, I try and at least _lean_ forwards. "There were only tw-"

"Yes, the ANBU are quite efficient at information collection." The Hokage puffed his pipe. "Two shinobi from the village of Hidden Mist. Missing-nin, to be exact." Missing-nin?

"Runaway shinobi? What were they doing skulking around Konoha then?" They said they were after- SHIT! "Hokage-sama! Those shinobi were after blondie and his cell!"

The Hokage sweatdropped. "Blond- Naruto?" Now the Hokage looked dead serious. "Are you sure, Ebisu-kun?"

Twitch. "Yes I'm sure! They said so themselves right before they attacked me!" Not good, not good, not good. "They were looking for an old man, and a group of four." Oh man, I could barely handle those two on my own, how-

"I wouldn't worry too much about it Ebisu, the ANBU would have found more than a pair of Hidden Mist chained to a tree if they were killed." Chained to a tree? "Kakashi, needless to say, has a great deal more skill than you do."

"Ka-ka-shi?" What the hell was the Hokage talking about? "Th- Ah! Jounin Hatake Kakashi?" Idiot! The cell would have a Jounin leading them, my brain must have taken an extended vacation.

The Hokage nodded, glancing over his shoulder at the hospital room's door. "I have a few things to take care of, but I'm sure you won't be too lonely in here, Ebisu." Smiling, the Hokage tipped his hat to me. "Come see me when that arm of yours is feeling better." Turning, the Third Hokage walked out of my room before I even thought to ask him what he meant.

"My arm?" Moving to sit up again, I let out a hiss of pain and sank back down. Ok, that didn't hurt last time, whatever they've got me on must be wearing off. "Ite... That wasn't the good kind of tingle..." Glancing down at my arm, I let out a sigh, it's swathed from fingertips to elbow with bandage. It looks like I'm a long way off from creating any sort of revolutionary techniques.

Still... I tore the hell out of those two on my own with that little trick of mine. I allow myself a wicked smirk at that particular thought. Nothing quite perks you up when you're busted up and feeling down, like thinking about how some well deserving person is having a worse time than you. If I was the megalomaniac type, I'd be laughing my head off right now.

Still, I'm really not in a position to gloat about anything. Heaving a sigh, I settle back into the soft bed. I'm internalizing a bit more than usual, but nearly dying can do that to a person. At least, I _think_ it's more than usual. Dammit, I've really got to get a second opinion on this, it's the kind of question that'll drive you nuts if you think about it long enough.

Click.

The door.

Narrowing my eyes, I reach for anything at hand. I'm never going to be caught without a ranged weapon again, not if I can help it. A weapon, something, anything! Ah, there! I've got-

A bedpan.

Screw it, I'd rather die than use this in a feeble attempt to defend myself. How embarrassing.

"Um..." Crap, put the pan down, put it down. I really doubt someone with a hesitant voice like that would be coming to kill me.

Heaving a sigh, I turn my head just in time to catch Hyuuga Hinata shrinking back. Great, now I'm a jerk too. "Come on in, you're more than welcome." Think of something to break the tension. "... Hey, do you smell wet dog?" Oh nice, real smooth.

Blushing, Hinata minces her way inside. Geez, you'd think from the way she's walking that-

"He said we could come in, so we're coming in." Arching an eyebrow, I stare at the door as some guy, check that, some _really_ shaggy guy comes barging in. With a dog sitting on top of his head.

"Oh, so that's why I smelled wet dog."

"Hey!" Oops, heh, he doesn't look too happy. Ah well, might as well finish pissing him off. "Y'know, that animal of yours could use a trim and a bath."

The guy bristled. "I just finished giving Akamaru a bath this morning!" The dog on top of his head yipped at me. Huh, wonder if it's just because his master's pissed, or because he understood what I said?

"The dog looks fine." It'll probably take him a few seconds to figure that out. He doesn't exactly look like the brightest bulb in the lamp.

"How are your wounds?" And the final part of the trio, Aburame Shino. Wonder where he got those sunglasses of his? Snazzy.

"Eh, I'll live, well, I _hope_ I'll live." I think Hinata looks a little pale now, it's probably all the bandages.

The puppy, Akamaru, yipped a few times, looking down at the guy who's head he was riding on. Well, if I wasn't sure they could communicate before, I am now. I have _never_ seen a guy so pissed off that his whole body turned red. "An-an-animal!"

"No yelling in the Hospital." Shino moved a little to stand partway between me and the new guy. "Inuzuka Kiba, Ebisu..." He trails off and looks at me.

Oh! He doesn't know my full name, how stupid of me. I'll blame the beating I took on this one. "Ebisu Marise, it's a pleasure to meet you." Usually the family name comes first when you're introducing yourself, but this is different. My name's more like a title than a proper name.

Kiba let out a sound that sounded like a cross between a snort and a growl. "Hrrrff!"

"I was talking to your dog." I try my best not to smirk too much, but it always seems to slip out on it's own. Ah well.

Kiba looks like he's half livid with rage, and half pleased that I complimented his furry friend. At least Akamaru liked the compliment, he's wagging his tail.

"Anno..." Hinata looks a little confused. "Ebisu-kun, you're not related to Konohamaru's teacher Ebi-"

"Oh _hell_ no!" I take a moment to execute a full body shudder, and instantly regret that. Man, it feels like I've been ripped to shreds from the inside out, and stitched back together the wrong way.

"E-Ebisu-kun." Great, now everybody looks worried.

"I'll go get the doctor!" Kiba turns and runs for the door. Ah man, I'm not an invalid.

"No, no, I'm fine, really." I struggle to keep my body from shaking, but it's well past my ability to control my muscles now. The worst chill I've ever felt is inching it's way through my bones. "I'm f-f-f-fine... Just fiii..."

I can vaguely make out what Hinata and Shino are saying as everything goes black again.


End file.
